Westville maintained their four-year stranglehold over rivals Kearsney by thrashing the hosts 38-7 on Saturday.

Westville came out firing with flyhalf Duncan Campbell (right) crossing the Kearsney tryline in the fourth minute after continuous pressure on the blind side. Campbell added a penalty before flanker Ntando Phumgose scored from a well-worked maul, giving the visitors a 13-0 lead in as many minutes.

Indiscipline at the breakdown cost Kearsney dearly as they were repeatedly penalised for not rolling away. Campbell duly slotted another three-pointer and then scored a try from 40m out after intercepting a pass from the hosts’ right wing Chase Draper.

Kearsney hit back from a lineout deep inside the Westville half when loosehead prop Mathew Jones crashed over from close range to score just befpre half-time, and flyhalf Warren Seals’ conversion reduced the deficit to 14 (21-7).

However, the second half produced more misery for Kearsney. Shortly after the restart Westville turned over possession deep in their own territory, and scrumhalf Dwyane Kelly fed wing Keegan Boulle, who ran the length of the field for the try of the match.

Westville right wing Steven Neville then scored a fortuitous try after he failed to regather Campbell’s cross-kick only for the ball to bounce off his legs into the deadball area. Phumgose then grabbed his second try of the day after some strong work by the pack.

Kearsney outside centre Andre Holland and pivot Warren Seals showed some neat touches for the home side, but it was all in vain for the Botha’s Hill outfit. In fact, Westville could easily have passed the 50-point mark had Campbell had his kicking boots on.

Meanwhile, in another big clash in KZN, Maritzburg College overturned a 12-9 half-time deficit to defeat DHS 36-20 in Durban. College coach Piet Snyman told keo.co.za, ‘Our boys showed massive heart and character to pull off a notable victory’.

In Gauteng, KES avenged last season’s loss to Pretoria Boys’ High with a 25-19 win in Houghton, while Jeppe surprised St John’s 13-7 in a scrappy match at Jeppe. Head coach of St John’s, Stefan Louwrens, said: ‘It was a typical early-season game that was riddled with handling errors and missed opportunities for St John’s. We have a lot of work to do before next weekend’.

In other results around the country, the Nu Power Tuks Series saw Monument make the perfect start by beating Jeugland 40-16. There were also notable wins for Middleburg HTS, Waterkloof and EG Jansen.